Safe.



N0. 803,638. Q PATENTED NOV. 7, 1905.

H. U. STOGKWELL.

SAFE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED OCT. 7- 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

mlbfmfi Mul (wa PATENTED NOV. 7, 1905.

H. G. STOGKWELL.

' SAFE.

APPLICATION FILED 00w. 7. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

qttcsh UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. '7, 1905.

Application filed October 7, 1903. Serial No- 176,108.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT O. STooKwELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Los Angeles,in the county of Los Angeles and Stateof California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSafes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to safes, andparticularly to that type of safe inwhich a round door has movable radial bolts which engage the jamb andwhich are connected to and are locked and unlocked by an oscillatingdisk geared to a suitable shaft operated by a handle from the outside.In the operating mechanism is included a clutch controlled by acombination-lock, and this clutch is shifted into or out of engagementwith the operating-shaft by the manipulation of such lock.

My invention is a special improvement in safes of this class; and itsobject is to provide means for preventing the combination-lock frombeing thrown 013? until the door-bolts have been projected to their fullextent. The action of the combination-lock can be conveniently preventedby holding the shifter-lever .of the clutch while the bolts are beingpro- I stop for the clutch-lever which controls the operation of thebolts. of the same. Fig. 4 is a section on line m a: of Fig. 1.- Fig. 5is across-section of the door in the plane of'the worm-shaft.

The safe shown and the mechanism for operating and controlling thebolt-work is of a Fig. 3 is a plan view well-known type. The frame orjamb in which draw the door firmly to its seat. By turning the gear thebolts are advanced or retracted, according to the direction of movement.The gear can be operated at proper times by a worm-shaft 0, journaled inbearings on the back of the door and carrying the loose bevelpinion m,held in place by means of a collar n and a set-screw, pin, or othersuitable fastening. The loose bevel-pinion m is formed with a clutchmember on. Feathered on the shaft is a second clutch member It, whichcan be shifted into and out of engagement with clutch m. A pinion Z isfixed on a shaft 5, which passes through to the exterior of the door andcan be turned by a key, handle, or crank. Pinion Z is in constantengagement with loose pinion m, but is ineffective to operate the shaft0 and worm-gear until the clutch members are in engagement. If theclutches are engaged, the handle can be operated so as to turn the disk6 in either direction, and so control the bolts in looking and unlockingthe door.

The operation of the clutch is controlled by combination-locks, thecasings of two of which are shown at t t. I have not considered itnecessary to show the interior combinationlock mechanism, as that iswell known and forms no part of my invention. I have, however, fullyillustrated the connections between the said locks and the clutch, assuch features are necessary to a full comprehension of my improvements.

I use two combinationlocks in order to avoid the danger of the lock-outwhich might happen if asingle lock were used and this should becomederanged. By using two locks either of which will unlock the door thedanger of such a lock-out is practically avoided, and of course it isonly necessary to unlock one of the locks, the other remaining in itslocked position.

The clutch-shifter lever is pivoted on the door at it, and on it is hunga plate Z). From this plate arms 0 and d extend, respectively, into thelock-casings and are pivoted to the swinging bolts 24 a, which formparts of the lock mechanisms. These bolts are secured to rocking pins ww and are operated by the exterior handles of the combination-locks. InFig. l

the combination-locks are supposed to be locked, and the clutch isdisconnected.

Secured upon the gear 6 adjacent to the clutch-shifting lever it is astop a, which I prefer to make and have shown as adjustable upon thegear by pin-and-slot connections a,

so that the position can be regulated with great accuracy.

When the safe is to be unlocked, either combination-lock is operated,and as the bolt of each of said locks is pivoted to the triangularplate5 the movement of such bolt is imparted to the clutch-lever it. Thiswill raise one end of the lever it above and out of the path of the stopa. The same movement will cause the other end of the lever h to shiftthe clutch member is into engagement with the clutch member m. In normallocked position one end of the shifter-lever ii is in line with and inproximity to the stop a, as shown in Fig. 1; but the movement of thelever it raises that end higher than said stop. One combinationlockbeing unlocked and the clutches in engagement the outside handle can beturned, the worm-shaft can be rotated, and the disk 0 is moved in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 1, which retracts the door-bolts. Sincethe stop a moves with the disk 0, it passes under the shifter-lever andstays there until the disk has been moved to the full extent in theother direction, so as to lock the bolts. When this movement has beencompleted and the bolts have been thrown outto their full extent, thestop a is again in the position of Fig. 1, and then and not until thenthe combination can be thrown off and the clutches disengaged. A certainrange of adjustment is provided for the stop in order to compensate forany Wear of the bolts or other operative parts of the mechanism, as itis very important that the stop should not free the shifterlever untilthe bolts have been fully moved to locked position.

The advantage of the stop will be readily seen. In its absence it wouldbe possible to throw off the combination while looking the door-boltsand before the bolts and door are seated with absolute tightness. Ifsome thin obstruction, such as a piece of cardboard or even a pin,should lie unobserved between the jamb and door, the latter could belocked by the application of ordinary force. This would leave aninappreciable space which might, however, be sufiicient for theintroduction of enough nitroglycerin to blow out the door. My stop canbe regulated with such accuracy that the door and bolts must reach theirproper seats and be fully locked before the combination can be thrownoff and the clutch disengaged.

I do not limit myself to the precise construction and arrangement hereindescribed and shown in the drawings, as I desire to avail myself of suchmodifications and equivalents as fall properly within the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a safe having a curvilinear door, sliding bolts for locking andunlocking the same,

interior bolt-operating mechanism, mechanism leading to the exterior ofthe safe, means for connecting and disconnecting said mechanisms, andmeans for preventing the disconnecting of said mechanisms until thebolts have been moved to their fully-locked positions.

2. In a safe having a curvilinear door and sliding bolts for locking andunlocking the same, interior bolt operating mechanism, mechanism leadingto the exterior of the safe, means for connecting and disconnecting saidmechanisms, a lock for controlling said connection and disconnection,and means for preventing the operation of said lock and thedisconnection of said mechanisms until the bolts have been moved totheir fully-locked position substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

3. In a safe having a circular door and radial sliding bolts, anoscillating disk to which said bolts are pivoted, a shaft foroscillating said disk, a counter-shaft projecting through the door,gearing for connecting said shafts, a clutch for controlling theconnection, a lock for controlling the clutch, and an arresting devicefor preventing the operation of the lock and the clutch while thedoor-bolts are unlocked.

4:. In a safe, having a circular door and radial bolts, a bolt-operatingdisk, means including a clutch for moving said disk, acombination-lock,a clutch-shifter lever connected therewith, and an arresting devicecarried by said disk for preventing any movement of said lever beforethe door-bolts are fully locked.

5. In combination with a safe, its door, and its bolt-operatingmechanism, substantially as described, and with a clutch included insaid bolt-operating mechanism, of a combination-lock, a clutch-shifterlever connected thereto, and an adjustable stop for arresting the saidlever, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. In a safe of the character described, a movable bolt-operating disk,a clutch a combination-lock and a pivoted clutch-shifter levercontrolled thereby, in combination with a stop carried by thebolt-operating disk and arranged in such relation to the clutch-shifterlever as to prevent any movement of said lever while the safe isunlocked and while it is being locked.

7. In a safe of the character described, a movable bolt-operating disk,a clutch a combination-lock and a pivoted clutch-shifter levercontrolled thereby, in combination with an adjustable stop carried bythe bolt-operating disk, and arranged in such relation to theclutch-shifter lever as to prevent any movement of said lever while thesafe is unlocked and while it is being locked.

8. In a safe of the character described, the combination with themovable bolt-operating disk, clutch-shifter lever, and combinationlook,of a stop having a pin-and-slot conneo- In testimony whereof I haveaflixecl my Sig-- tion with said disk and located in proximity nature,in presence of two Witnesses, this 11th to said lever; whereby inunlocking the safe day of July, 1903.

said stop Will ride under the clutch-shifting HERBERT C. STOCKWELL. 5lever, and Will remain there until the comple- Witnesses:

tion. of the reverse or looking motion of said J. M. RUMSEY,

disk has been fully completed. T. A. LUOKFIND.

